Britain’s soaring inflation has peaked and is expected to roll back from a near six-year high, helping households cope with the sustained squeeze on their finances.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation is set to fall to 3% in December, according to City consensus figures ahead of the official announcement on Tuesday.

It comes after CPI chalked up its biggest rise since March 2012 at 3.1% in November, following a pause at 3% for the previous two months.

Consumers have been searching for a reprieve after taking a double-whammy hit from a Brexit-fuelled jump in the cost of living and paltry wage growth.

Samuel Tombs, Pantheon Macroeconomics chief UK economist, has pencilled in an even steeper fall for inflation at 2.9%, predicting supermarkets will duck the chance to push prices even higher in December.

He said: “The recent rally in the oil price indicates that the contribution of motor fuel prices probably was 0.04 percentage points higher than in November.